Walsh School of Foreign Service

Walsh School of Foreign Service
The Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) is the school of international relations at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. It grants degrees at both undergraduate and graduate levels.
Founded in 1919, SFS is the oldest continuously operating school for international affairs in the United States, predating the U.S. Foreign Service by six years, and many of its graduates pursue careers in U.S. foreign policy. Despite its reputation for producing prominent American statesmen and diplomats, the school is not a diplomatic academy, and its graduates go on to have careers in a diverse range of sectors, including Wall Street.
The School of Foreign Service was established by Edmund A. Walsh with the goal of preparing Americans for various international professions in the wake of expanding U.S. involvement in world affairs after the First World War. Today, the school hosts a student body of approximately 2,250 from over 100 nations each year. It offers an undergraduate program based in the liberal arts, which leads to the Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service (BSFS) degree, as well as eight interdisciplinary graduate programs.
History
With the help of Georgetown University president Fr. John B. Creeden, S.J., Fr. Walsh spearheaded the founding of the School of Foreign Service and its establishment was announced on November 25, 1919. The school's use of the name “Foreign Service” preceded the formal establishment of the U.S. Foreign Service by six years. The school was envisioned by Fr. Walsh to prepare students for all major forms of foreign representation from commercial, financial, consular to diplomatic.
In 1921, it graduated its first class of Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service (BSFS) undergraduate students. The following year, the school began to offer the first international relations graduate program in the United States, the Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS). In August 1932, the SFS was moved to the Healy Hall, a National Historic Landmark.
In 1958, two years after the death of Fr. Walsh, the school was renamed after him and moved to the Walsh Building in a ceremony dedicated by President Eisenhower in honor of Fr. Walsh. Since 1982, the school has been housed in the Edward B. Bunn, S.J. Intercultural Center (ICC) on the main campus.
In June 2023, the administrators announced the plan to rename the school in honor of the late Madeleine Albright, who served as a professor at SFS both before and after her tenure as U.S. secretary of state. It attracted criticism due to Albright's controversial legacy and the lack of consultation with the school's community members.
Academics
Undergraduate program
The Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service (BSFS) degree is offered by the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. The degree is rooted in the liberal arts. Following completion of the core requirements, students declare one of the following interdisciplinary majors:
Culture and Politics (CULP)
Global Business (GBUS)
International Economics (IECO)
International History (IHIS)
International Political Economy (IPEC)
International Politics (IPOL)
Regional and Comparative Studies (RCST)
Science, Technology, & International Affairs (STIA)
There is also a joint degree — Bachelor of Science in Business and Global Affairs — offered in partnership with Georgetown University McDonough School of Business.
Graduate program
Graduate students can pursue eight interdisciplinary graduate degrees in the school:
Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) with concentrations in:
Global Business, Finance & Society (GBFS)
Global Politics & Security (GPS)
International Development (IDEV)
Science, Technology, and International Affairs (STIA)
Master of Arts in Security Studies (SSP)
Master of Global Human Development (GHD)
Master of Arts in Arab Studies (MAAS)
Master of Arts in Asian Studies (MASIA)
Master of Arts in German and European Studies (MAGES)
Master of Arts in Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies (MAERES)
Master of Arts in Latin American Studies (CLAS)
There are also two joint degrees offered in partnership with Georgetown's McDonough School of Business. The first is the Global Executive MBA, which is offered in collaboration with the ESADE Business School in Spain. and the INCAE Business School in Costa Rica. The second is the MA in International Business and Policy (MA-IBP).
SFS is a member of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA), a group of public policy, public administration, and international affairs schools.
Additionally, exceptional undergraduate SFS students can apply for the accelerated bachelor’s/master’s dual-degree program, which allows enrollment in one of the graduate programs (e.g. BSFS/MSFS, BSFS/MASIA, etc.) during the final undergraduate year and completion of both degrees in approximately five years.
Certificates
Georgetown offers a number of undergraduate certificate programs: African studies, Arab studies, Asian studies, Australian & New Zealand studies, German and European studies, international business diplomacy, international development, Muslim-Christian understanding, Jewish civilization, justice & peace studies, Latin American studies, medieval studies, Russian & East European studies, social & political thought, and women's and gender studies.
Reputation and rankings
Georgetown's programs in international relations have consistently ranked among the best in the world in surveys of the field's academics that have been published biennially since 2005 by Foreign Policy. In 2014 and in 2018 Foreign Policy ranked Georgetown's master's programs first in the world and its bachelor's programs fourth. In a separate survey of makers of American foreign-policy from 2011, Georgetown ranked second overall in the quality of preparation for a career in the U.S. government, regardless of degree earned.
Student Life
There are a vast array of clubs and student organizations at Georgetown University that students from the School of Foreign Service join. The elected representative organization of the SFS is the SFS Academic Council, also known as the SFSAC. The SFSAC advocates for the SFS student body and works with the Dean's Office to address student concerns, spearhead new initiatives, and coordinate events. In addition to elected representatives, the SFSAC has several committees, including Community Service and Outreach, Special Events, Professional Development, General Membership, Diversity Equity and Inclusion, and Communications.
Campuses
The School of Foreign Service main campus, which is part of the main campus of Georgetown University, is located in the Georgetown neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C. In 2005, it opened another campus, the School of Foreign Service in Qatar (also known as SFS-Q or GU-Q), in Qatar Foundation's Education City in Doha, Qatar. Many SFS undergraduates spend a minimum of one semester or a summer abroad, choosing from direct matriculation programs around the globe as well as programs of other universities and those run by Georgetown, including SFS-Q and Villa Le Balze.
List of deans
Notable alumni
Abdullah II of Jordan (1987), King of Jordan
Adel al-Jubeir (1984) Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia
John R. Allen, former commander of International Coalition in Afghanistan, President of Brookings Institution
Steve Bannon (1983), White House chief strategist and Counselor to the President under President Trump
José Durão Barroso (1987), President of the European Commission and former prime minister of Portugal
Philip Bilden (1986), U.S. secretary of the Navy nominee in the Trump administration
Bill Bryant, Seattle port commissioner from 2008 to 2015
George Casey (1970), U.S. Army chief of staff
Laura Chinchilla Miranda (1959), 46th president of Costa Rica
Joseph Cirincione (1983), former president of the Ploughshares Fund
Paul Clement (1988), U.S. solicitor general and acting U.S. attorney general
Bill Clinton (1968), 42nd president of the United States
Anne Dias-Griffin (1993), hedge fund manager
Stéphane Dujarric (1988), Spokesman for UN Secretaries-General Kofi Annan, Ban Ki-moon and António Guterres
Richard Durbin (1966), U.S. senator from Illinois, Majority Whip of the United States Senate
Felipe VI (1991), King of Spain
Luis Fortuño (1982), Governor of Puerto Rico
Dexter Goei (1993), CEO of Altice
Christopher Grady, Vice Chairman of U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff
Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of Lithuania
Alexander Haig (1961), U.S. secretary of state under Ronald Reagan, Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO (1974–79)
Daniel Henninger, columnist, Deputy Editorial Page Editor The Wall Street Journal
Mushahid Hussain, Opposition Leader in Pakistan, candidate for President of Pakistan in 2008
James Matthew Jones (1983), global health expert and philanthropist
James L. Jones (1966), U.S. national security advisor under President Obama
Eugen Jurzyca, Minister of Education of Slovakia
John F. Kelly (1984), Retired Marine general, the 5th U.S. secretary of homeland security and White House chief of staff in the Trump Administration
Kathleen Kingsbury (2001) Opinion Editor, New York Times
Željko Komšić, President of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2006 to 2014
Taro Kono (1986), Foreign Minister of Japan
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (1968), president of the Philippines from 2001 to 2010
David Malpass (1982), President of the World Bank
Denis McDonough (1996), President Obama's chief of staff and former deputy national security advisor, Secretary of Veteran's Affairs in Biden administration
Kayleigh McEnany (2010), CNN Commentator; press secretary to President Trump
Maeve Kennedy McKean (2009), attorney and U.S. health official
Mick Mulvaney (1989), Director of U.S. Office of Management and Budget and White House Chief of Staff under President Trump
Kirstjen Nielsen (1994), U.S. secretary of homeland security under President Trump
Darcy Olsen, CEO of the Goldwater Institute
Jon Ossoff, (2009), U.S. senator from Georgia
Sandra Oudkirk, first female director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT)
Armand Peschard-Sverdrup, Mexican political scientist
Pat Quinn (1969), Governor of Illinois
Carl Reiner (1943), actor, film producer, film director, Emmy Award winner
Tony Ressler (1981), billionaire and owner of the Atlanta Hawks
Matthew A. Reynolds (1986), former assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs (2008–2009)
Chris Sacca (1997), Founder of Lowercase Capital
Therese Shaheen (1980), Chairman of the American Institute of Taiwan, 2002–2004; businesswoman
Arjun Singh Sethi (2003), civil rights writer and lawyer
Debora Spar (1984), Former president, Barnard College at Columbia University, member of the board of directors of Goldman Sachs, first female president of Lincoln Center
Courtney Stadd (1981), NASA chief of staff from 2001 to 2003
Daniel Sullivan (1993), U.S. senator from Alaska
George Tenet (1976), Director of the CIA from 1997 to 2004
Matthew VanDyke, freedom fighter and Prisoner of War (POW) in the 2011 Libyan Civil War
Marcus Wallenberg, a banker and industrialist
Margaret Weichert (1989), deputy director for management in the Office of Management and Budget, Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Nawaf Obaid (1996), political scientist and former Saudi foreign policy advisor
Igor Danchenko (2009), geopolitical analyst known for sourcing the Steele dossier
Anthony Clark Arend (1980), professor of government and foreign service at Georgetown University
References
Citations
Sources
External links
Official website